Post navigation

Now more than ever, Samsung’s Galaxy S+ phones are becoming eerily similar to the Note series. The Note used to be Samsung’s way of touting all of the latest and greatest tech it had to offer, and while this is still the case, the same can be said for this year’s Galaxy S9+.

Samsung needs more than just the S Pen to make the Note 9 stand out from its own phones and the rest of the competition, and luckily, all signs are pointing to something exciting for this year’s release. Here’s what we know so far!

July 24, 2018 — A leaked image shows off the Note 9 in three colors

Another day, another leak from Evan Blass. Last week, we saw the front and back of the blue Galaxy Note 9, but with today’s leaked image we see the phone in three colors — black, blue, and brown.

It looks like the blue Note 9 will be the only model with the yellow S Pen teased in Samsung’s official event invite. The other two will have color-matched S Pens, all of which look fantastic.

July 17, 2018 — A new render shows the Note 9 once again

We already have a pretty good idea as to what the Galaxy Note 9 will look like, but thanks to a new render, the picture’s now clearer than ever before.

Evan Blass took to Twitter today with the above photo. It shows the Note 9 in a blue paint job with a blue and yellow S Pen to accompany it, and the combo looks downright fantastic.

July 16, 2018 — Galaxy Note 9 spotted out in the wild with Samsung’s CEO

Not too long after DJ Koh spilled some beans about the Note 9’s S Pen features, he’s back in the news once more as he was recently spotted using the phone during the media event mentioned below.

Koh can be seen using the Note 9 in the above photo, and while most of the device is hidden, we can confirm that it is, in fact, the Note 9 due to the placement of the rear camera and fingerprint sensor.

We’ve seen one collection of renders for the Note 9 so far (pictured above), and save for the fingerprint sensor being moved below the rear camera sensor, the phone’s shaping up to be nearly identical to last year’s model.

As such, we can expect a large Infinity Display with slim bezels, an all-glass back, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Samsung’s event teaser suggests that we’ll get at least one bright yellow color option, but I’m still crossing my fingers the Galaxy S9’s Burgundy Red gets a wide release on the Note 9 🤞.

What specs can we look forward to?

Samsung’s Galaxy Note phones are always home to some of the best specs around, and the Note 9 shouldn’t be any different.

Based on the current rumor mill and what we’ve seen from other 2018 flagships, here’s what we think we’ll see this year.

The S Pen has always been one of the biggest draws to the Galaxy Note phones, and this year with the Note 9, we’re expecting Samsung to give the accessory one of the biggest updates we’ve seen in years.

One of the biggest changes this time around is that the Note 9 S Pen is rumored to come with Bluetooth. On one hand, this means the S Pen will need to have a battery and be charged somehow. Although we can’t confirm this, it’s likely Samsung will design a system that allows the S Pen to charge up while it’s inside the Note 9.

On a more exciting note, Bluetooth could allow for the S Pen to be useful even when it’s not in direct contact with the Note 9. Its button could act as a camera shutter, slide-show clicker, give you better alerts when it’s away from your phone, and more.

There have also been hints at some sort of gaming-specific features, but it’s unclear how exactly these will pan out.

When will the Galaxy Note 9 be released?

The Galaxy Note 9 will be announced on August 9, 2018, at an Unpacked event in New York City.

We can expect retail availability to come in a 1-2 week time frame after the announcement, if any previous launches are any indication.

How much will the Galaxy Note 9 cost?

Pricing for the Note series has steadily been going up each year, as has the majority of the smartphone industry.

The Galaxy Note 8 costs $950 unlocked, and I’d expect the Note 9 to cost either the same or slightly more. Apple proved with the iPhone X that people aren’t afraid to shell out $1000+ for a new smartphone, and I don’t consider it to be out of the question for Samsung to follow suit with the Note 9 – especially if it adopts newer technologies like an in-display fingerprint sensor.

If you’re a heavy business user, there are plenty of reasons to love the Note 9.

The Note series has always been a bit… different. The original Galaxy Note was a behemoth — for the time — aimed squarely at enthusiasts. Compared to that year’s Galaxy S II, the Note brought a bigger screen, more powerful internals, and the now-classic S Pen. Since that time, the Note series has switched between being an enthusiast’s dream and being just a larger Galaxy S phone. In 2018, it looks like Samsung is priming the Note 9 to go back to being an enthusiast-first device.

But just because it’s aimed at the enthusiast crowd doesn’t mean other sectors won’t appreciate the Note 9. Corporate users are a healthy market for Samsung to target, and — unless you’re craving a physical keyboard — there are a few reasons to consider the Note 9 for your business needs!

The Galaxy S9 is no slouch on the inside, but the Note 9 makes some noticeable improvements. It uses the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 inside, paired with 6GB of RAM instead of 4GB the smaller S9 comes with. The Note 9 also includes 128GB of internal storage in the base model, while both the S9 and S9+ only include 64GB. All of the phones are expandable with a microSD card, but internal storage is going to be faster and more secure. While Google Docs and PDFs don’t take up a huge amount of space individually, more space for documents is only a good thing. If you need even more space for multitasking prowess, there will also be a 512GB storage/8GB RAM option.

Meanwhile, the Note 9 offers a slightly larger screen than that of the S9+. It’s only a 0.2-inch difference, but more screen real estate is more screen real estate. This does make the Note 9 more unwieldy than smaller phones, but the tradeoff may be worth it for some users. Another thing the larger size allows is a larger battery: 4000mAh on the Note 9 compared to 3500mAh on the S9+.

The Note 9 will also feature the latest and greatest LTE and Wi-Fi radios. This is something most businesses overlook, but being able to connect to a network is one of the most important things mobile workers need their phone to do. If your workers struggle with connectivity when they’re on the go, the Note 9 will be their best chance at staying connected.

The S Pen

The trademark feature of the Note series is the S Pen stylus. When the Note first came out, the S Pen was really only useful for swipe typing, doodling and writing quick notes. But with each new Note phone, the capabilities of the S Pen have grown. This year, Samsung is making a big leap with the inclusion of a Bluetooth radio inside the pen. You’ll be able to use the pen as a presentation clicker, long-press to launch an app of your choice, and set specific actions inside each app. The pen can be used in this “smart” mode for 30 minutes, and 40 seconds inside of its silo will give it a full charge. If the pen does die, it can still be used as a regular capacity S Pen like older models.

Samsung DeX

When DeX debuted with the Galaxy S8, it was a bit… impractical. $150 for a specific dock was a huge barrier to entry, especially if your business is buying a fleet of Galaxy phones. And if you’re already buying a dock, keyboard, mouse, and monitor, it’s not that much more work to just buy a Chromebox for that station as well.

That last part hasn’t really been changed, but DeX has grown in other ways. Apps work a lot better, and they scale to fit monitor screens much better. These are still mobile apps — so you can’t have two Google Docs open at once — but if an employee can do 95% of what they need to from their phone, DeX is a great solution to tackle the other 5%. As for the cost of entry, DeX will now work with any USB-C to HDMI adapter, and Samsung will sell its own adapter. You can use the S-Pen or the phone’s on-screen keyboard for text entry in DeX. Best of all, using DeX won’t lock you out of using the phone’s regular interface. If you’ve already invested in separate keyboards and mice, those will still work just fine.

Samsung Knox

Out of the box, Android phones are perfectly secure enough for consumers. But if you have sensitive business data that employees are carrying with them everywhere, you’ll want a bit of extra protection. Samsung’s Knox system happily offers that protection. In fact, Knox is so secure that recent Galaxy phones were approved for use by the U.S. Department of Defense to handle sensitive military data.

Other considerations

Being a big phone release from the biggest Android manufacturer, the Note 9 will have plenty of third-party accessories like screen protectors, rugged cases and car mounts for your employees to use to keep the phone itself safe. Cases also let your employees personalize their phones, which is a great way to tell everyone’s phone apart.

Of course, not everything about Samsung phones is appealing. The biggest reservation that most businesses will have is the speed of updates. The Note 9 is launching with Android 8.0 Oreo just a few weeks after Android 9 Pie is released. More troubling is the speed of security updates, especially if you buy the phone from a carrier. It’s not uncommon for Galaxy phones to lag a month or two behind Pixel phones when it comes to security updates. While that may not be the end all be all, it’s an important consideration.

What say you?

Would the Note 9 be a good match for your business? Let us know down below!

Using a sample résumé to help you spruce up your own doesn’t mean it has to be bland.
Business Insider and TopResume career expert Amanda Augustine put together a strong sample résumé as inspiration for job seekers.
Augustine also provided insight on what works in this particular résumé so that you tailor your own résumé to your needs.

A good résumé can be hard to find — so here’s a solid sample résumé to help you get started.

After all, your résumé is your key to new and exciting job opportunities.

Business Insider and Amanda Augustine — who currently works as TopResume’s careers expert and previously worked in the same capacity as Ladders — put together the following résumé for all current and future job seekers.

While résumés should be tailored to the industry you’re in, the one below offers a helpful guide for entry- and mid-level professionals with three to five years of relevant work experience.

What makes this résumé so great? Augustine outlined the following reasons:

1. It includes a URL to the job seeker’s professional online profileShayanne Gal/Business Insider

If you don’t include URLs to your professional online profiles, hiring managers will look you up regardless.

Why not include your URL along with your contact information? This will prevent recruiters from having to guess or mistaking you for someone else.

2. It uses consistent brandingShayanne Gal/Business Insider

“If you have a common name, consider including your middle initial on your résumé and online professional profiles to differentiate yourself from the competition,” said Augustine.

For example, decide if you’re Mike Johnson, Michael Johnson, or Mike E. Johnson. Then use this name consistently, be it on LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.

3. It includes a single phone number and email addressShayanne Gal/Business Insider

“Choose one phone number for your résumé where you control the voicemail message and who picks up the phone,” Augustine said.

Xiaomi partnered with Google over an Android One last year, the Mi A1. The phone combined Xiaomi’s hardware capabilities with the simplicity of Android One, making it one of the best budget phones of 2018.

A year on, Xiaomi is renewing its collaboration with Google to launch two Android One phones. The Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite feature comprehensive upgrades from the Mi A1, and Xiaomi is set to make both devices available in over 40 markets around the world.

The key difference between both phones — from an aesthetic standpoint — is that the Mi A2 has a standard 18:9 display, with the Mi A2 Lite offering a 19:9 panel with a notch up top. Internally, the Mi A2 is powered by the Snapdragon 660, whereas the A2 Lite is running the now-familiar Snapdragon 625. On the software front, both devices are running Android 8.1 Oreo, and the fact that they’re a part of the Android One platform means they’ll be one of the first phones to pick up the Android P update.

Here’s what you need to know about Xiaomi’s latest Android One phones.

The Mi A2 features a 5.99-inch FHD+ 18:9 display backed by a layer of Gorilla Glass 5. The 2.5D curved glass allows the edges to seamlessly merge into the mid-frame, and the phone also has subtle curves at the back to make it easier to hold.

Xiaomi has been using the Snapdragon 660 platform for over a year now, and the Mi A2 is the latest to feature the chipset. The Snapdragon 660 is notable for being just as fast as flagships SoCs even from just a few generations ago, and it’s safe to say that it is one of Qualcomm’s best in this category.

There’s a 3010mAh battery under the hood, up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.0, and a USB-C port. The camera is where things get interesting: the primary 12MP IMX 376 sensor is mated to a 20MP module with large 2.0um pixels. The front camera also has a similar 20MP sensor with 2.0um pixels, and as just like the Redmi Note 5 Pro, the Mi A2 has an AI-enabled portrait mode.

Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite: Notched display, incredible battery life

The Mi A2 Lite isn’t just a variant of the Mi A2 with toned-down hardware — the phone sports a cutout at the front to accommodate the camera module and the requisite sensors.

Xiaomi has said in the past that it favors the Snapdragon 625 for the chipset’s balance between efficiency and performance. The manufacturer rolled out more than a handful of phones powered by the chipset — including last year’s Mi A1 — so there’s not going to be a performance differential between the A2 Lite and what we saw last year.

Essentially, the Mi A2 Lite has the same underpinnings as its predecessor, albeit with a refreshed design for 2018. However, the one downside is that the A2 Lite has a Micro-USB port, a puzzling choice considering the Mi A1 had a USB-C charging port.

Xiaomi is moving away from the ubiquitous headphone jack in its premium models, but the jack is intact on the budget-focused devices. As such, although the Mi A2 doesn’t have a 3.5mm jack, the A2 Lite has the analog port.

Xiaomi Mi A2/Mi A2 Lite: Pricing and availability

There’s enough differences between the Mi A2 and A2 Lite that Xiaomi is targeting two diverse set of users with its latest Android One phones.

The pricing reflects that as well, with the decked-out version of the Mi A2 running up to $410. The Mi A2 Lite, meanwhile, starts off at $210. Here’s the pricing breakdown for the all variants Xiaomi will have up for sale:

Xiaomi mentions that it will make both devices available in over 40 markets around the world, and we should be hearing more about region-wise availability later this month. Xiaomi is huge in India, so we should see the brand launching both devices in the country shortly.

Given the cost-conscious nature of the Indian market, it’s likely we’ll see the base variant of the Mi A2 Lite debuting at under the $200 price point. Anywhere at the ₹10,999 ($160) figure should make it a great option considering the Redmi Note 5 shares a similar hardware foundation.

As for the Mi A2, the phone directly goes up against the $375 Nokia 7 Plus, so it’ll be interesting to see what price point it slots in.

Your best friend deserves the best, and these gadgets will help you be the best.

Dogs are wonderful companions, but they also require a lot of work. Besides obvious things like cleaning up messes, dogs also need to be groomed, well fed and above all, loved. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools available to make your pet parenthood easier.

A lot of dogs shed to keep cool, which means a house that easily gets covered in fur. If you have multiple dogs, you may need to vacuum a few times a week just to keep things under control. Dyson’s handheld vacuums aren’t the most powerful options out there — especially compared to a corded vacuum. But Dyson vacuums are amazing for how easy they are to maintain and how portable they are. There are more expensive models, but the V7 series is a great middle ground that offers a lower price than higher end models, but still enough battery life and attachments to get the job done. The V7 vacuums offer 30 minutes of run time, so you should be able to vacuum most of your house in one charge. If you need more power, you can kick it in MAX mode for six minutes. The vacuum on all of the V7 models is the same, but the Animal model comes with specific attachments to help you get pet hair out of the carpet.

The Dyson V7 Animal is available for $400, but we’ve seen it marked down as far as $314.

Of course, the easiest way to keep dog hair from getting into your carpet is to brush your dog regularly. Unfortunately, most dogs don’t like the feeling of a prickly brush. But every dog loves when you pet them, and Grooming Gloves make it easy to brush your dog while petting them. The gloves aren’t nearly as unpleasant as a stiff brush, but there are plenty of soft grooves along the fingers of the glove to pick up loose hair. The hair comes right off of the glove too, so you don’t have to deal with some nasty adhesive. There are similar gloves for less money, but the HandsOn gloves are the highest rated right now on Amazon.

The HandsOn Grooming Gloves are available in black and green in various sizes for $25.

As someone who spent too many nights growing up chasing my overeager dog around my town after she ran out an open door, GPS trackers are a miracle. Of course, a tracker doesn’t do any good if you can’t actually follow it, so Whistle 3’s GPS tracker comes with LTE support in addition to the GPS chip. This does mean a recurring payment of $7 per month, but that’s a small price to pay to keep your best friend safe. The tracker has a battery life of seven days, so be sure to charge it every weekend. You can also set safe spaces within the app, which are based on trusted Wi-Fi networks. Finally, you get the ability to track your dogs activities to help keep them in shape.

Some dog breeds — especially those that were bred to be guard dogs — get separation anxiety when they can’t see their owner. Other incidents like thunder and fireworks will make any dog panic, and it’s heartbreaking as an owner to not be able to communicate with and comfort the dog. Fortunately, there’s a tool to help. Calming vests — sometimes known as thunder shirts — do the same things for dogs that weighted blankets do for humans with anxiety. The effect on my dog was nearly instant: she went from barking nonstop when I left (as my neighbors kindly told me) to only barking for a minute or so. She also destroyed much less of my apartment with the comfort vest on. If you have an anxious dog, a comfort vest may be the best gift you can give them.

Comfort Zone’s Calming Vest is available in various sizes between $32 and $42.

There are plenty of cheaper video camera systems for your dog, but the Lenovo Smart Display lets you do other things like watch YouTube videos or follow along with food recipes. Not something that your dog will care about, but it makes a Smart Display a better choice for you. There’s also the fact that you can video chat with your best friend from any iOS or Android device with Google Duo. A home security system will be a better way to watch your dog through your whole house, but the Smart Display is a great, inexpensive option if you keep your dog in a single room during the day.

Canopy Growth Corporation is the largest publicly-traded marijuana company.
Canopy CEO Bruce Linton recently sat down with Business Insider to talk about growing the company from a startup into a $6 billion behemoth.
The company recently got a $191 million investment from the brand behind famous beers like Corona and Modelo — a partnership Linton says he was eager to pin down.Follow Canopy Growth’s stock price in real-time here.

Constellation Brands — the $41 billion giant behind beers like Corona and Modelo — made waves earlier this year when it announced a $191 million investment in Canopy Growth Corporation, a the world’s largest publicly-traded marijuana company.

Amazon, Netflix and Microsoft make up most of the gains in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100.
By definition, the largest stocks will have a bigger impact on the returns than the smaller stocks.
The concentration of returns in the stock market is one of the most underrated reasons for diversifying investments.

CNBC had a piece this week that looked at how top heavy returns in the stock market have been this year. They showed 3 stocks — Amazon, Netflix and Microsoft — alone make up more than 70% of the gains in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes:

Lenovo and Google teamed up to create the Smart Display, a smart home hub with a screen that takes direct aim at the $230 Amazon Echo Show.
The Smart Display comes in two sizes — 8″ for $200 and 10″ for $250 — and has an HD screen, two speakers, and a modern design that doesn’t scream “tech.”
Lenovo’s hardware and Google’s Assistant are a perfect match.
The Smart Display has a Google Chromecast built into it too, so you can watch videos or listen to music from dozens of services using apps on your smartphone or tablet.
The Smart Display is easily the best smart home hub I’ve tested — I’m a long-time Amazon Echo fan, but I’m considering a switch to Google’s side.

About once a month, Google releases distribution numbers that outline the various Android versions and the percentage of current devices they’re running on. This data is meant for developers so they can create and update their apps according to which Android versions are the most popular, but they also give enthusiasts like us a glimpse into how quickly OEMs are adopting the latest and greatest the platform has to offer.

To source this data, Google tracks the Android versions of any devices accessing the Play Store over the course of a 7-day period. This ensures that only active Android gadgets are being accounted for and not your HTC Dream that’s been sitting untouched in a drawer for the past few years.

Any version that accounts for 0.1% or more is listed, but versions that have less than that are ignored.

Without further ado, here’s the current state of Android.

July 2018

It’s been a hot minute since we got our last batch of distribution numbers, but after skipping over June, Google’s back with an all-new set of data for July.

The biggest highlight for this month shows Android Oreo (8.0 and 8.1) now available on 12.1% of all devices — a huge step up from the 5.7% it saw just a couple months back. That’s still not a great adoption rate, but at least we’re getting somewhere.

The data for May corresponds to Play Store activity for the seven-day period ending on May 7. Oreo has picked up another percentage point over the course of the month, and is at 5.7% overall — 4.9% being 8.0 and the other 0.8% for 8.1.

Nougat also saw a slight increase from 30.8% to 31.1%, followed by Marshmallow by 25.5%. Here’s the breakdown of how things changed:

For April of 2018, Google tracked Android devices accessing the Play Store for 7 days with the collection period ending on April 16.

The last report from February showed Oreo just barely accounting for more than 1% of Android devices, but that number has since climbed to 4.6% (4.1% being 8.0 and the other 0.5% going to 8.1). Nougat also sees an increase with a jump to 30.8% compared to 28.5% (7.1 and 7.0 combined), and Marshmallow is still trailing in second place at 26%.

February’s report was the first time Android Oreo crossed the 1% threshold despite that version of the OS being released back in August of last year.

Marshmallow continued with a tight grip at 28.1%, but this also marked the first time that Android Nougat jumped into first place with a combined total of 28.5% – that including versions 7.0 and 7.1.

Additionally, Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.3 to 4.0.4) also finally dropped to 0.4% from last January’s 0.5%.

January 2018

In January 2018, Android Marshmallow still reigned supreme as the most popular version of the OS at 29.7%. This also saw 8.1 Oreo make an appearance on the board for the first time with 0.2% adoption, and 8.0 remained at the same 0.5% it was at in December.

Jellybean and KitKat both decreased compared to last month’s check-in, but Ice Cream Sandwich and Gingerbread are still holding on at the same 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.

What version of Android are you running?

What about the phone you’re using? What one is it and what version of Android is it rocking? Sound off in the comments below and let me know!

Samsung Display has announced that it has developed a truly “unbreakable” display panel, after receiving certification from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to verify the claim. The base feature of the panel is that it’s made of flexible OLED, like many of Samsung’s modern phones, but in this case it has a substrate that’s been designed to not give out with repeated impact.

Rather than go with a super-hard glass, Samsung is using fortified plastic that’s flexible.

The traditional way to have a super-tough screen was to simply harden the covering that went over top of it. Phone makers have been covering displays with synthetic sapphire for years, which is much stronger than traditional glass found on phones. Synthetic sapphire is extremely difficult to break when reinforced properly by the phone’s hardware, and when paired with an OLED panel underneath the entire package is very rugged. But it can eventually break, because it’s brittle. This “unbreakable” panel from Samsung is covered by a fortified plastic rather than glass, which makes it flexible during impact.

Samsung claims that the fortified plastic in use here is very similar to glass in terms of its transitivity (how well light and RF can pass through) and hardness, while being dramatically more flexible. In UL’s testing, the display panel was subjected to 26 successive 4-foot drops without damage, and also continued working in extreme temperatures. Samsung notes that the panel was also tested for drops at 6 feet, well above the current standard test, without issue.

This isn’t just for phones — Samsung envisions applications in automotive, military and education.

This type of panel is still a good ways off from being put to use in any commercially available smartphones, so don’t get your hopes up for the Galaxy Note 9 — or the Galaxy S10, for that matter — to have anything like this. To that point, Samsung isn’t saying that this is being developed solely for consumer electronics. The company notes that it could also be put to good use in other applications such as car center consoles, mobile military devices, portable game consoles and education-focused tablets — it’s pretty easy to see why each one of these areas could benefit from a high-quality screen that’s also made to take extra abuse without breaking.

But Samsung’s flexible OLED panels felt like a crazy tech demo at one point too, and yet they were eventually integrated into every flagship phone the company sells over time. With rumors of Samsung working on a “foldable” smartphone, this sort of technology could definitely be a factor in those types of products being viable. At a bare minimum, being able to market an “unbreakable” display in a non-folding phone is also a nice feather in your cap — although it hasn’t really worked out for Motorola.